


Flight

by Midnight1890



Series: Zelganangans [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Forbidden Love, Kingdoms, Original Character(s), Original Races, Porn With Plot, Princes & Princesses, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:22:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21788965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnight1890/pseuds/Midnight1890
Relationships: Ganondorf/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Zelganangans [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1409590
Kudos: 20





	1. Ganondorf's Lement

Ganondorf woke up the morning before his coronation exhausted and running on restless sleep. He forced himself up off the bed that soon enough wouldn't be his and stumbled towards the curtain that marked the border into his room. Almost drunkenly he stumbled down the steps to collect some breakfast and nearly jumped out of his skin when he nearly ran into a woman. He hadn't quite gotten used to his tribemates random drop bys ever since he had turn 17 almost exactly a year ago.

"My king," she bowed. Ganondorf froze up for a second, _oh right, she's talking to me._

He struggled for something cool to say. "Speak." He managed around a voice crack and tried not to embarrass himself too bad.

"Sire the time has come for you to choose your beta."

Ganondorf sighed. Since the beginning on time, it seemed, the Gerudo people had been cursed to only have one man at a time. Ganondorf was allegedly that man. So this woman wanted him to choose his beta, which grew to be the highest status just short of being king himself. His beta was the first mate he took and took on new responsibilities. She would lead her tribe in Ganondorf's absence, would be the one to bear his son when the time came for him to be reborn, and if she outlived her son, she became the wise woman of her town. His advisor, Hirosmu was the current wise woman for his hometown of U'laf, and so, it would be her duty to train Ganondorf's mother in the duties of a wise woman once Ganondorf was crowned, hopefully, that would get his mother out of his hair for a while. But anyways. "And?"

"I have come to offer myself to you like your first mate." 

Ganondorf quirked his head, _so soon?_ "Stand." He ordered, and when she did, he studied her face suddenly recognizing her and feeling a wave of nausea leaped to his throat. "Brandlin," he said as he processed her. She looked nearly identical to any other Gerudo ever. She had dark tan skin, dark amber eyes, and flaming red hair. But she was admittedly pretty "Didn't you help mom raise me?"

"Yes." Brandlin agreed.

"And now you want to..." He swallowed thickly; Brandlin was more of a likable mother to him than his mother. "Right... um well, my beta have to prove herself to me, and that won't be easy." He didn't like this, couldn't he at least start with a different town, not with people he knew? The images he was getting of them were starting to get weird.

"Anything you want sire." 

Ganondorf was pretty sure he was insane, all he had wanted until this point was to be swimming in girls, but now the idea made him sick to his stomach. He tried to give Brandlin a job that would keep her busy but didn't want to kill her... "Fetch me..." What would be time-consuming but not deadly? "Three fairies from the fountain at the southern border of the desert." She nodded and slipped away to gather her supplies. He had to admit he was quite impressed with his quick thinking on that one. Fairies were tiny puff ball-shaped creatures with tremendous healing capabilities. They lived around fountains inhabited by high fairy spirits. That would be the first task he decided, collect fairies under the ruse of using them to help heal fatal wounds or use their aid to make even the inedible into a feast for the gods. He'd let the fairies go home after they were brought to him, so as not to damage their population too severely, they were rare as it was, but he needed a reason to deny everyone.

Hirosmu approached next. "Sire." She nodded to him but didn't take a knee; she was almost as powerful as Ganondorf was, she didn't make any political choices that Ganondorf would but was a talented magic user, saw visions of the future in her dreams and knew almost all that there was to know about nearly anything relevant and she served as his mentor.

"Hirosmu." He returned, he hoped to whatever gods were listening that she wasn't here for the same purpose Brandlin was. 

"Come with me." She said gently, but it was an order. He nodded and followed her to the main room of his palace, on a heavy table made of clay in the center of the room was a map with daggers sticking out of it. She stood beside it and allowed Ganondorf to look it over. On this map was the entirety of the word as far as he was concerned, in the North-East was an active volcano, to the North-West, was towering mountains, the South-East as made up of mostly waterfalls and more tropical environment, The South-West marked his desert home and in the center was a label that he couldn't read thanks to the dagger plunged into the center of the map. "I have marked Hylian cities with the daggers; I suggest attacking Nacsuot first since it is closest to the border and relatively small."

"Woah, wait, what?" Ganondorf blinked, surprised, and looked up at her, "Why are we attacking these people so soon? I don’t want to plunge into war straight away!"

Hirosmu smacked him over the head fairly hard, but mostly so fast he wasn't ready for it. "Are you braindead?" She snapped, "The Hylians are the ones who banished us to this desert and forced us only to have one man! They've done plenty to us! We are not the warmongers here!"

"Geez." Ganondorf ran his hand over where she hit him, no blood, and he had hardly felt it; it was more of the startle factor that made it hurt. "Okay, but how is making them angry going to help?"

"They might give us our rights back!"

"That hasn't happened the first twelve hundred times and has just gotten people killed, why don't we try something different?"

Hirosmu pinched the bridge of her nose, "Goddess help us, he's grown soft." She sighed before straightening. "They won't listen to reason, that's why. Their pretty princess is playing dollhouse and doesn't understand that our children are dying because of them and thinks we're the problem."

"Hey." Ganondorf hissed his eyes narrowing. "I have not grown soft." He advanced on her teeth bared. Her amber eyes widened in alarm, and she stepped back away from him, but he kept up, "I am your King, do you understand? Your answer to me now. Not the other way around."

Hirosmu as backed against a wall now, quivering a little in terror. "Y-yes, sir." She swallowed thickly.

"Good." He rumbled and then realized there was something wrong with his mouth. It felt too heavy, he reached up and jabbed himself with something sharp protruding from his jaw bone. A tusk. "Leave me, we'll talk tomorrow." He mumbled and stomped off. Leaving him alone to ponder the albeit short day.


	2. Coronation

The Hylian princess sighed and twirled her brown hair idely. She was on the cusp of womanhood was grateful her father would no longer be breathing down her neck. Though she would never say as much out loud lest he hear. At 18 years old princess Zelda looked like a spitting image of the goddess reborn, shimmering silver eyes, long brown hair, pointed ears and small in build, there was no doubt in her mind she was the Goddess' reincarnation. _Then why won't she speak to me?_ She had tried visiting the Spring of Power to prove to her father she was indeed Hylia but not once had she heard the Goddess' voice, once she saw the spring's pool crimson with blood and a voice that wasn't Hylia speak to her.

 **This place is not for you** The voice had said it sounded rather masculine, inviting yet instigating and cunning. He had never spoke to her before. Strange, but she still needed to convince her father she was fit to rule after him, well as fit as any woman could be to her father, she supposed.

She leaned over the railing on her balcony, attached to the east side of her chambers, staring out over the rolling fields of her father's kingdom and out to the mountain range that marked the border between his kingdom and the untamed deserts that thieves and bandits took shelter in. There was a light tapping at her chamber door. "Come in." She answered evenly pushing her hair back into place, ignoring the light breeze tugging at it.

"Princess Zelda." Her favorite servant said from the door, "Your father would wish to speak with you." Zelda sighed and turned to the servant letting her white nightgown flutter uselessly around her ankles.

"Well, he'll have to come down himself." She retorted.

"Zelda, we've discussed this." The servant sighed exasperatedly. "If you wish to become Queen one day you must prove yourself to him."

"No woman can prove themselves to him Impa!" Zelda sighed and massaged her forehead. Impa gazed at her through steady blue eyes, blinked slowly, her long white braided hair occurring as her natural color rather than age. "He will never let me become Queen." Zelda rolled her eyes and flopped down on her pink-sheeted bed. "Not that I want to be Queen anyways." She muttered voice muffled by the fabric.

"You're the heir, Princess. Neither of you has much another choice." Impa replied hearing Zelda despite her attempt not to be heard.

Zelda groaned into the pillow. "Why can't mom still be here? When she was around dad wasn't such a pain in the-" Zelda's mother had died when Zelda was about twelve years old due to an ambush that Zelda wasn't entierly convinced wasn't planted by her father to shut her up, she had always been mentally stronger than her husband. Zelda herself wished she had inherited such strength of will, she was a coward like her father and didn't know how to speak for herself. Zelda had spent much of her teenage years grieving but ultimately grew angry at her mother for marrying the jackass that was her father anyways.

"You know why she can't be here." Impa cut her off, setting a hand on Zelda's shoulder soothingly. "Everything will work out I promise, this is only the smallest of your life troubles I assure you."

"Not helpful." Zelda shook her head, "fine just let me get dressed." Impa nodded and selected a fluffy sky blue dress for Zelda to wear and helped her adorn it, despite multiple glares from Zelda who knew she was perfectly capable of dressing herself. 

By the time she was ready to go Zelda looked like an idiot, her hair had been ruffled awkwardly in the process, her dress wasn't ironed and one of her nails had caught on something and chipped. It was going to be one of _those_ days.

All the same, she and Impa made their way to the throne room and upon the throne lay her father. His short body trying to see over rolls of fat, not from any medical conditions or anything as far as physicians were aware but sheer apathy to himself and almost anything else. His small beady black eyes peered at her just barely able to see her.

"My King." Zelda ground out as she kneeled.

"My disappointment of a daughter." He snorted, his voice sounding like claws on a chalkboard. "What do you want now?"

"It is my eighteenth birthday," Zelda said staring at the pearl tiled floor. 

"And?"

"It is my coronation day. I am to begin the process to become queen." Zelda continued with a massive eye roll she knew he wouldn't be able to see.

Her father's nose flared and she almost could see smoke flare out of his ears and she couldn't help a small smirk. She was going to get called a whole rainbow of names she was sure but still, it was nice to see that he did have emotions. Even if it was only the bad ones. "Why you entitled little bitch!" Her father snarled. "You will get nothing until I die do you understand me?"

"I can't wait," Zelda muttered.

Her father went to reply when the light from the glass roof darkened and cracked as a wave of power blocked out the sun and shook the ground. Blacking out Zelda's vision

***

**"You will never break me!" She heard herself hissing her arms chained above her head and she was glaring pointedly at a huge ugly monster who looked vaguely humanoid. Save his sheer size at seven and a half feet tall. He had flaming red hair that touched the ground and amber eyes and he had kneeled down to be at eye level with her.**

**"I don't need to." His voice shook her very soul with its power and she flinched away reflexively. She was going to die here she knew it. "You'll break yourself." He promised her.**

**"I may be Wisdom, not Power but that doesn't mean I have none!"**

***

Her vision cleared and she saw her father scrambling desperately to right himself after his throne had toppled over itself with the wave. Zelda looked up and saw thousands of shattered glass pieces falling from the roof. "Dad!" She shrieked and her vision blacked out again. 

***

****"He's going to kill us all princess!" A man said beside her as she looked over a circular table with a map and red x's marked where cities used to be.** **

****"Courage... We need you now more than ever." She whispered to herself as the ground shook and an enormous boar ripped through the castle wall, it amber eyes lacking any human emotion whatsoever. and another swing of its mile-long tusks ripping through her like she wasn' there at all.** **

***

She screamed with fury and leaped adroitly over to her father and without thinking held a shield of light above their heads so the glass clicked harmlessly to the ground around it. 

The power faded from her and she staggered back stumbling over herself and falling onto her back. "He has returned." Her father realized as he struggled to stand. "Zelda. You are now Queen. I step down." 

Zelda shook herself trying to get her mind to stop spinning, "what?" She asked, "I still have to take all the classes and-" 

"There's no time!" Her father scurried over to her and pulled her up to her feet not minding as she teetered dangerously close to falling over again. "I cannot face that monster so you must! It is your duty after all." 

"Are you insane?" Zelda focused finally, he was trying to run away from whatever it was that had caused this. "No, I will not take up the crown without the proper ceremony and preparations." 

"That's what you wanted, isn't it? To be Queen?" Her father stared at her in fear. 

"Not like this." 

"Fine you will get your classes but I am stepping down and leaving, do what you will." Her father shrugged and waddled off. 

Impa, who had stared blankly at this entire exchange took a knee from the hallway that leads into the throne room so she wouldn't get glass shards stuck in her. "Queen Zelda. I will make the preparations." She mused quickly. 

Zelda pondered this a moment there was no way she could rule right now. She had no experience, no knowledge, she hadn't even been allowed to read a history book until this point. "No Impa. I'm leaving." 


	3. Coronation

"Sisters!" Hirosmu yowled out to the sea of red hair, "Today we begin again! Today marks the day that signifies our survival as a people. No longer are we fatherless and mateless. Today we welcome home our King." Hirosmu turned to Ganondorf. "Mighty wielder of Power! Show us hope once again!" Ganondorf's advisor turned to him and waited expectancly.

Coronation. Yesterday, as emotionally charged as it had been, was the last day of Ganondorf's boyhood. Today was the first day he was a man. Officially anyway. He looked nothing like the father he had never met. The father who ruled for so many lifetimes before. He had been a huge seven-foot six-inch tall man with a powerful muscular build that made up his three-hundred pounds of weight, dark tan skin, cool amber eyes, flaming red hair that could touch the ground a fiery beard to match and the power to turn into a legendary beast to fight his enemies. The man who was supposedly reborn into 18-year-old Ganondorf.

_What a load of horseshit._

Present day Ganondorf only stood at five feet tall, his body was designed more like a twig than anything. He barely weighed a hundred and fifty pounds and his mother forced him to keep his admittedly firey red hair short and clean cut and his eyes were soft and wide amber orbs. As for the beast, well aside from yesterday, he hadn't really ever felt the stir of legend inside him so he didn't think it to be true either. There went his dreams of becoming like his father and namesake. He may not have known his father but he would like to be a living legend, if not the responsibilities of being king.

Albeit the whole "King of Power" legend sounded like complete fiction too how does somebody dead get reborn into a son the day he dies? That's not how reincarnation works even with the Gerudo curse. It should be a different man with different personalities, and who could take down some legendary beast time and time again? How did the pathetic princess from the rival kingdom play into it? Too many loose ends for it to be believable even though his wise woman advisor, Hirosmu insisted that it would become more clear in time as he grew into himself.

Today however all of that doubt was brought into the limelight, not because he doubted his paternity, how could he when his people were only permitted one man at a time? His doubts were fueled instead by how much he hated where he was. Standing on a stone that jutted up into the sky littered with fading stars, dawn was approaching. The stone he stood on was specifically placed so as the sun crested over the mountains that marked the edges of his soon to be kingdom, the stone would be bathed in light. He saw movement in the dark that still clouded the city he had grown up in.

Today was the day that all the Gerudo who were able had traveled across the rolling sands that was their home to see the boy. No pressure or anything. "Sit! Still!" His mother snapped at him as she adjusted the straps on the huge metal plates that his father had adorned for generations and a massive sword the size of him was adjusted into his hands so he stood tall and proud at the tip of the rock, the palms of his hands against the top of the hilt of the blade whose point dug into the rock in an indent that felt like a footprint his forefathers had left for him to fill and he felt tiny compared to it, he did not wield the strength that his fathers had and it showed by how shallow his indent was. Still, he saw the amber flashes of eyes below him, shook his mother off and tried to stand up straight against the fifty pounds of armor he, thanks to practice, could carry, if only that. The actual ceremony was the hard part, he would be asked to prove he was the king reborn, cast shadow magic powerful enough to darken the early morning sky. So far he hadn't been able to do it but his eighteenth birthday had come too soon to do anything about it. _You must have confidence that you are Power reborn, that will be how you can use such power as your own._ Hirosmu's words rang in his mind, he just hoped she was right. 

He hissed as the sun peaked just enough to send a beam of light into his eyes but felt so many blazing amber eyes on him at once that he couldn't move, his heart stopped in his chest.

Thankfully it had only been a few seconds since Hirosmu's speech of sorts and it was spaced like a dramatic pause rather than a doubting one. Plus it looked like a challenge to the desert sun to wait until it cleared of the line of clouds that traveled east. To block out the sun while it was hidden behind a blanket of clouds was one thing, to do it while directly in it's harsh glare was another.

Ganondorf closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and he concentrated. _I am Ganondorf Dragmire!_

His eyes snapped open as memories flooded back to him. **"You miss-" A young boy with strangely pale skin and pointed ears in green clothing had leaped out of the way of a blow with a sword by sheer inches but Ganondorf's blade turned black and shadows ripped through the boy's heart.**

***

**"You are a coward!" An admittedly pretty pale woman snarled at him tears streaming down her face as she huddled over the collapsed boy. Shadows wrapped around her throat and crushed the life out of her.**

***

A scream ripped out of him as raw uncontrolled power flooded through his veins, the back of his right palm burned and he ripped his gauntlet off his hand and on the back of his palm was a glowing golden triangle that was the only source of light as the sky was blackened with shadows.

***

**Ganondorf was bleeding his life away on the ground yet he was proud, "I am not done yet." He promised in a deep rumbling voice the pointed ear boy who glared down at him, "I will come back stronger than before."**

**"I look forward to it."**

The power was zapped from him as quickly as it had come. The sky cleared and Ganondorf wobbled on his feet as exhaustion washed over him but he forced himself to stay upright. He would not collapse at his own coronation. 

Hirosmu looked stunned but pleased. "Sisters, Ganondorf has returned to us once more!" 


	4. Zelda's Lement

Zelda had wanted to leave within 24 hours of her father's retirement but unfortunately, kingdom politics didn't allow that to come to be. Instead, she was bombarded with all the things her father had failed to complete before his retirement which was really only the start to her problems.

For the current moment however she was taking a moment's respite in her personal rose-garden, a gift from her father meant to shut her up for a while. "Queen Zelda?" A flowery voice came from the archway into the palace halls. Her head perked up from where she had been cupping a rose and smelling it. Some voice was tickling the edges of her ears. 

_**Zelda...**_

_Hylia? Is that you?_ The voice was most definitely female and it sounded like bells, the way a school bell would, both pleasing and yet disrupting. The sound was dispersed by movement in her peripheries. In the archway stood a tall blonde-haired boy, a few years older than Zelda and had been her girlhood crush for ages but had never stopped long enough to give her the time of day. Currently though he held a rose between his teeth and flipped a coin between his fingers. "What do you want Jason?" She asked bluntly, she had moved on from him and focused on herself after her mother died, but still, her heart twirled in her chest at the sight of him.

Jason smiled and approached her, taking her palm in hand and kissing it after taking the rose and holding it like one would hold a tobacco pipe. "I wish to take your hand in marriage." He purred, "allow us to rule the world together and wipe those thieving Gerudo from the face of this earth once and for all."

Zelda flinched away. "You're an asshole Jason. Go away, I don't want to see you in this palace again." Seven years too late to be ponying up to her now.

Jason stared at her "You're a slut! I wouldn't want to be with you anyways." He snarled and stormed out of the palace. Zelda sighed and rubbed her forehead, she suspected that wouldn't be the last she saw of Jason but that was later girl's problem.

Impa appeared in the archway "Your presence is requested in the war room my queen." Zelda took a couple of deep breaths. _You can survive one stupid meeting._ She thought before nodding and following her to the room from the very vivid vision she had received the day before had been placed in. The circular table was still the same save a huge crack down the middle of it and advisers surrounded her.

"Queen Zelda!"

"Welcome Queen Zelda!"

"Despite her father she overcame just like I knew she would." 

Zelda rolled her eyes, these were her father's sycophants who were cozy in their noblemen lives and were willing to do almost anything to keep things that way they had been half the problem she had with her father. They had never said a word in her defense and swore up and down that her father was a god, and now that they were without him they hoped that her blind ignorance would lead her down the path her father took. Zelda leaned over to Impa "can I fire them all?"

Impa smiled but shook her head, "Yes, but unless you have other advisers in mind that would not be wise, especially if you value your life."

Zelda sighed disappointed, trickery than would be her friend she suspected. "My Queen! The darkness! We must attack the Gerudo now!"

"Woah what? No one told me what that meant." Zelda replied as she reached the map the more they yelled out at her the more her head spun. 

"He was born in the city of U'laf, kill him now while he's struggling with his own people."

"Who is 'he'?" Zelda demanded but got no answer,

"Slaughter them all!"

"Monsters!"

_**Zelda...**_

"Shut! Up! All of you!" Zelda snapped her magic dispersing over the crowd silencing them. "I'm going to my chambers to read up on what is going on, nobody is to bother me if you value your jobs." Zelda turned her back and steamed over to the door slamming it behind her. Going to her room, upset, confused, angry and overwhelmed she collapsed into her bed and sobbed, she collected some of her most treasured things into a bag, a portrait of her mother, her favorite book and a medallion of the goddess. Impa tapped on her door, “it’s just me.” She soothed as she poked her head inside. 

"Impa? It's time."


	5. Flight of the King

Ganondorf had spent all night tossing and turning. He had never in his life seen someone afraid of him before. Much less Hirosmu, the most powerful woman in the tribe, cowering in fear of him. He had almost killed her. Almost lost control to the point of no return. Almost killed one of his best friends and his mentor. 

**Ganondorf snarled in rage as red overtook his vision, "Sire..." One of his tribemates squeaked but her voice fell on deaf ears as he ripped her apart with mile-long tusks that were easily thick enough to impale a person even at his size. His body changed and grew as his hair trailed along down his back and his eyes became deep amber pools that lacked any signs of life or emotion in them. Ganon roared with a primal fury as he charged towards the distant unfamiliar castle trampling any friend, enemy or unfortunate passerby that got in his way.**

_I can't stay here_ He sat up straight in the bed that wasn't his. He had thought about this before but he had never been as sure as he was now. Ganondorf's eyes darted around the room, he finally located a travel pack, pushing himself out of bed silently he went over to the corner it was stored in, it was empty at the moment but it was a start, he began by placing a little stuffed camel, a gift from his father supposedly into the bottom of his pack for safekeeping before he moved on to requirements. he shuffled around the palace, carefully watching for any guards or anyone else who might be awake at this ungodly hour. Thankfully not encountering anyone until he reached the soldier's barracks where all their supplies were kept. He took a deep breath in and sighed feeling shadows silence his footsteps as he snuck past sleeping soldiers and collected two bedrolls, one for cold nights and one for hot days and a water canteen. He slung the pack over his shoulder and crept downstairs, taking a sharp left from the war room into his armory. He carefully slid each piece of his special armor on and took his sword from its holster. All of the gear was still heavy but since his coronation, he was able to suplex it much easier and could move fairly freely in it. He gazed at himself in an old cracked mirror that had a preteen aged Ganondorf's interpretation of his legendary father silhouetted on it. He wasn't a half-bad artist he had to admit. The hair was long and fluffy and his stance tall and powerful even under the armor. Young Ganondorf's reflection stared back at him sadly, struggling to stand straight under the heavy plates he ran armored fingers through his hair, his mom had just cut it for his coronation (while he was sleeping since he'd put up too much of a fight when he was awake.) So it would be a while but he was going to grow it out. No questions. Hopefully, he still had another few years to grow so he would look more like his father, for tonight though he was a meek imitation, running away from everything he was supposed to be but wasn't.

He sighed and continued on, he went to where his tribemates kept their food, shrouding himself with shadows as he crossed the clearing of town, it wasn't as difficult now that the night was in its witching hours but still he didn't want to test his luck. He quickly shoved as much as he could into his bag, he wasn't sure how long he would be going before he could hunt again away from the tribes, the distance was one thing on a map, and another thing in actuality, but at the same time he didn't want to starve his people, so he limited his selection to what he figured his people could afford to lose, things that no one really liked or older morsels. Finally, he went to the water barrels and filled his waterskin and a few spares before he took one last look around town. He sifted his way over to where his tribe kept sand-seals. Debating whether he needed one. He figured he could just stroll out the gate, but he might get questioned, he could say he was going for a walk but as soon as he didn't come back they would know where to look for him or at least what direction to start looking in. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he could shroud a sand-seal in shadows, not without some help or another flashback. He was beginning to hate those cursed memories that weren't his. He grunted and decided to go on foot for now. Though he would need to clear as much distance as possible before Hirosmu or worse his mother woke up and began to search for him, his mother would be able to find him in no time at all if he didn't cover his tracks or get lucky and be hidden by a sandstorm. He scaled a wall with surprising ease and landed with a solid _thump_ before he took off into the desert letting shadows envelop him and lighten his steps so any wind would disrupt his tacks. 

Finally. Finally, it was time for his life to really begin.


	6. Flight of the Queen

Zelda let out a breath of relief when Impa returned with a traveling pack, "what's going to happen to the kingdom in your absence?" Impa asked as Zelda went about packing her most valuable things and dressing in her horse riding gear, the closet thing she had to travel clothes.

"The noblemen will likely fight over who gets the throne in my absence and if we're lucky, just all assassinate each other, if we're not I would suspect civil war. Though I doubt that would be avoidable anyways given how much I might've changed things after my father."

"That's quite the burden you're leaving us with," Impa muttered folding her arms over her chest. "Will you ever return to rule us when you have done your soul searching?" She asked getting Zelda's silver gaze when she turned to glare sternly at Impa.

"I don't know." Zelda admitted. _I'm scared, I'm afraid I'm going to mess this up, how can I do a job I wasn't taught how to do?_ She thought and it almost gained voice but she contained herself. She held Impa's gaze for a long moment finally breaking eye contact. "But if you find a young girl who might be my descendant, test her to see if she is Hylia reborn, if she is, know that I died peacefully, living the life I wanted to. Not the one burdened on me."

Impa was quite for a long time. "Very well. What if _he_ returns? Where can I find you? The world itself will need your help to stop him."

Zelda rolled her eyes, "Who is _he_?" She asked mockingly.

"The Demon King, Power, King of thieves. He goes by many names. He can only be stopped by you and Courage. Please, I need to know where I can begin to search for you if armageddon lands on our doorstep."

Zelda pondered a moment, _well if the world really depends on it. I trust Impa to use her power responsibly._ "I head to the mountain range in the South West. To the edge of the kingdom border."

Impa stared at her for another long moment. "Let me prepare you accordingly then. You know not of what lays beyond the mountain range but it holds unspeakable danger to the unprepared."

"Thank you, Impa."


	7. Three Days

Three days had passed. Three days Zelda had wandered, at first, she had believed Impa to be crazy when she ladened the fleeing princess with so. Much. Water. But then when she got to the edges of her kingdom the air had grown warmer. The ground growing coarse and becoming grainy almost, like a beach but it went on for miles without water. Then she had had to traverse the canyon, which had been a simple enough task thanks to all of the travelers that wandered that particular road. She even encountered a few tall green-skinned red-haired women who spoke in a strange accent and moved sleekly and with a grace that Zelda would not have expected for someone of her size. Standing at about seven feet tall. She said she was looking for someone, a boy about Zelda's age. Zelda had pointed out this wasn't very descriptive, as there were many boys her age. The woman had laughed and said that this boy was special. Zelda had to take her word for it.

That encounter had been two days ago. Now she had drunk through her water supply, the heat was beginning to burn into her flesh and the sands waivered at the edges of her vision. She had begun to see mirages hours ago or was it minutes?

_**Zelda...**_

Her mind reeled as the shadow of a man stood over her, tall and imposing, his long hair blocking out the sun and strong body mightier than a lion. Picking her up by the back of her neck and casting her aside as though she weighed nothing at all. She hit the ground with a thud and struggled to rise to fight her attacker but stumbled back down before she could get to her knees.

_**Sleep...**_


	8. Discovery

Ganondorf had been alone for a week now, free to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. For the moment he wandered the northern border of his territory, he debated crossing it into greener pastures but decided against it in case he met someone who believed him to be his father and attacked him, either ending Ganondorf and thus dooming the Gerudo race. Or forcing Ganondorf down the path his father had taken, as much as he admired the legend that was his father he had no interest in leaving a path of destruction in his wake. Ganondorf sighed and paced aimlessly around the cave he had taken shelter in, planning to wait out a passing sandstorm that would strike in a few days. Not knowing when he'd find another good campsite and deciding to play it safe.

_**Ganondorf... After so long**_

"Hello?" A voice? Ganondorf had heard the woman's chirping voice so clearly in his mind but who else could be here? In a long-abandoned cave at the edge of his territory?

_**Outside. She needs you now as you will need her.**_

"What are you on Gan?" Ganondorf snorted to himself and almost thought about ignoring the voice and moving on with his nightly preparations but something compelled him to check outside. Just to be safe.

Laying face-down in the sand was a girl. Her skin was pale save the angry red burns scored across it, her ears long and pointed and her hair brown and reached the middle of her back, she was dressed in clothes one would wear to a riding lesson rather than in the desert and she was clearly unconscious thanks to heatstroke. If he didn't bring her in now she would probably die. _What kind of idiot just wanders into the desert unprepared? Natural selection right there._

**Leave her to die**

A new voice, a male one, deep and like nails on a chalkboard, it stirred unspeakable rage within him, not at the voice but just to the world in general. This voice almost made him turn his back on the girl but the woman's voice spoke again,

_**You are not your father.**_

Ganondorf sighed and had to agree with the woman's voice in his mind, he hadn't ever heard it before but was glad it spoke to him now, as strange looking as this girl was, she did catch his eye. Had she not been burnt dehydrated and malnourished, she would be very beautiful he was sure. He hefted her out of the sand and over his shoulder like she was a paperweight. He brought her inside to the cool interior of the cave, setting her down on the chilly stone and fetching a waterskin from his supply, he stripped off her clothing, she was shockingly smaller than the women he was used to, and she most definitely wasn't related to her which was admittedly interesting to him. 

**She doesn't have to know...**

_Woah Woah Woah, no we are not going down that route. At all._ He shook himself, clearing his mind before forcing himself to focus on saving her now and ogling her later. He rained the water down onto her skin with a controlled fist, not wanting to send her into shock or use too much water on a lost cause. He wasn't quite sure how far along in the heatstroke she was.

Her body convulsed and he shifted out of the way so when she vomited all the contents of her stomach onto the cave floor he wasn't kneeling in front of its path. Her stomach once held mostly undigested berries he noted, she had come from beyond his lands. Though that was easy enough to infer from her appearance alone, much less what was left of her diet. He carefully allowed her to have access to some water, holding her head in his lap and tipping it into her mouth with his hand. Not as much as she would have liked he was sure but she had already lost plenty of strength with the first purge, he didn't need another. Finally, her body cooled down and her teeth began to chatter a little. Now he settled her into his light bedroll and let her sleep. Deciding he'd worry about clothing her if and when she woke up.

He watched over her for three days, keeping her safe from the sandstorm as it passed and spending as little time sleeping as he could so he didn't miss any developments in his delicate project. One missed sign and she would die. Though finally on the fourth day she stirred, trying to heft herself up onto her forearms. "Easy." He breathed trying not to scare her too much.

She still yelped in surprise but didn't flee immediately, how much because she was naked he couldn't tell but still he was grateful she didn't go and undo all his hard work immediately. Dull, tired silver eyes fixed on him. "Who are you?" She asked wearily.

"My name is Ganondorf," Ganondorf replied ruffling his neck-length hair with a shy smile, he had been right she was stunningly beautiful, "who are you?"

"My name is Zelda."


	9. New Beginnings

Zelda had to spend a solid moment or three remaining calm. Despite having woken up in a strange man's... cave, buck ass naked to boot, she didn't feel hurt or violated, didn't have any marks to indicate she had been... she shuddered at the thought of it. Despite feeling fit and whole she wasn't ready to go off of that alone. Ignoring the man who crouched at the other side of the room for some reason, despite the likely truth of his ability to easily overpower her into submission, he chose not to. Odd, but she was grateful anyhow. She tried to find a blanket or a towel or something to cover herself with but finding nothing of the sort within arms reach she hesitantly rose to her feet.

She staggered at first as she made her way to the mouth of the cave, trying to see if there was some nearby town or something so she wasn’t alone with this strange man, though she did fold her arms over her chest protectively as she gazed out into the desert. Her mind reeling as she rapidly tried to adjust from the dim light of the cave to the harsh glare of sunlight as it reflected off of rolling hills of fine grains of sand, heat searing into the skin on her face as she made a hasty retreat back into the cave.

She remembered passing out, she remembered trying and failing to fight off a bigger man, but that had either been a hallucination or an ancient memory from her predecessors. The man... no boy, definitely boy in the cave matched very few of the descriptions she could give of her attacker.

Suddenly she remembered her conversation with the strange woman as she entered the canyon into the desert. _Is this the boy she was after? Why is she after him?? Is he an outlaw???_ She didn't think so, the woman hadn't told her to stay away from the boy if Zelda had accidentally stumbled upon him, didn't say he was dangerous or anything or why she needed the boy, just said he was special.

Though now that she finally looked at the boy, he was definitely unique, he had dark skin that was almost the colored of perfectly roasted chicken, was just a head taller than she was, had large amber eyes that stared at the floor forcefully avoiding looking at her. A good sign she supposed, and made her feel a little bit better about how naked she was, he wasn’t trying to be creepy or predatory. To top it all off he had thick red hair that clung to his neck like a very short mane.

He looked startling like the monster from her memories and past selves screamed at her to run.

_**Stay. He will keep you safe.**_

Her feet felt like stone glued to the floor as the teeth chattering voice in her mind spoke, it was the same voice as the times before but the voice was stronger now. Zelda kept her feet steady on the cool rock of the cave floor as she stepped closer to him as the wave of fearful obedience wore off. 

His eyes darted up to look at her for a moment but he blushed deeply and forced his gaze back down, he was different than anyone else she had met and she had to admit that was interesting, to say the least. She wasn't even sure what to ask him first. 

"What did you do to me?" Were the first words out of her mouth and it caught her by surprise but the lingering doubt had voiced itself loud and clear.

"N-Nothing." He promised, his voice much deeper than his scrawny frame would have let on. "I just brought you in out of the heat and the clothes would have killed you had they stayed so I got rid of them, that's all." He continued

Zelda gazed at him for a long moment. He still wasn't looking at her but he definitely had the expression of someone who was wrongly accused. She supposed she could believe him until he proved himself untrustworthy or she had reasonable suspicion against his claim. "What's your name?" She asked though dimly she wondered if they had had this conversation before.

"Ganondorf." He replied gently. The name rang a bell, not a good one but she couldn't place why it was just a name, after all, how bad could it be?

"Alright, Ganondorf." She tried the name on her tongue, it rolled off well, though it did have a bit of sting at the end by accident. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I could ask you the same question." He muttered.

Zelda sighed she was getting tired of looking at the back of his head but she was grateful to his manners. "Help me get some clothes and we'll talk properly, okay?"

Ganondorf nodded and zipped out of the cave leaving Zelda alone to wonder what the hell was happening to both herself and the home she had left behind.


	10. Hunting

Ganondorf hesitated, forcing himself to stay still despite sand weaving its way into his clothing and scrapping his skin raw. The bullet calf was close now. Why the land-shark was stranded from it’s herd he didn’t know, but he needed its heat resistant leather to make the outfit for the new girl. Had he been making one for him he would’ve needed a bigger animal but ‘Zelda’ was much smaller in frame. Ganondorf had put on some weight now that he ate and hunted whatever, whenever he pleased compared to thin rations in tribe life and it was starting to show, his body become bulkier and muscles solidifying against his bones.

The bullet sniffed and meandered over to the dead bush Ganondorf was laying in. It had sensed Ganondorf’s breathing. The Gerudo boy smirked to himself, his plan had worked. Bullet’s were rather sensitive to movement and were rumored to be able to sense vibrations in the sand, though that had never been proven. So by Ganondorf laying on the ground and speeding up his breathing he had perked its curiosity but not given himself away. 

_Kdar!_ Ganondorf whispered to himself and his grin grew wider when he heard the animal give a confused rumble. It’s vision having blacked out thanks to shadows binding to its eyes. Ganondorf was getting good at this. With a snarl Ganondorf pushed himself off the ground and leaped at the bullet slashing across the animal’s side. It may be still a baby bullet, but bullets, even the babies, were mean if they could get a hit in, hence why the ambush and the shadow magic. The animal raised one of it’s shovel like claws and ripped at the air where Ganondorf had been moments before. Now he had moved to the beasts other side, having left behind his heavy armor in the cave with Zelda. He had full confidence that the girl would not be able to steal it even if she wanted too. It weighed as much as she did after all. Having ditched his armor he had been able to sneak and prepare his trap, and was much more agile without it, although he was much more vulnerable without it. He had leaped over the bullet after his first strike. 

Ganondorf’s second blow came to the animals opposite side. The plates from along the creature’s spine had shifted to the side Ganondorf had attacked its other flank. He hissed and struck again slicing into its organs and piercing its heart, killing it. _Thank you desert for this gift._ He whispered to his arid surroundings. Some believed in a god or goddess who watched over them but he believed in the desert. The desert after all gave the Gerudo people everything they needed, food, water and shelter, but was a vengeful force when not respected properly. The desert created the life that was within it and allowing the Gerudo, or anything else for that matter, was a gift, the gift of survival. Most of the tribal women believed in the goddess so habitually he responded with ‘good goddess!’ But now that he was on his own he had been allowed a better devotion to the seemingly endless desert.

Ganondorf sighed and straightened. Bullet’s were interesting creatures. When relaxed the protective scales rested on the spine of the animal. When threatened or injured the scales moved to where the injury had occurred to protect it from farther harm. Knowing this had allowed Ganondorf to use the entirety of his gift from the desert. The organs would be made into elixirs that could heal wounds or protect from the heat, the scales would be used in the new girl’s armor, the bones and claws would be used to fashion crude tools. Both for Ganondorf and for Zelda, if she was going to stay out here she would need to learn how to survive, and one of the requirements for that was a weapon. The desert was full of predators, the quicker one learned to fight the better. He wasn’t sure how long Zelda had been in the desert but it mattered not. She was lucky not to have been eaten long before heat exhaustion set in. Ganondorf shook out of his thoughts as the ground rumbled distantly. The rest of the bullet’s herd he supposed. He muttered another word, _Olartp!_ a gateway of shadows opened its mouth in front of him and as he stepped through he forced himself to think about the cave, not too far form the place he had found the stranded bullet. He hesitated as he reached back to grab the almost forgotten creature. Seconds later he heard a yelp before he saw anything and when his vision cleared he saw Zelda cowering from him against the far wall of the cave, unfamiliar with his shadow magic, and honestly, this was the first time he had ever successfully pulled that trick. “Hi.” Ganondorf grunted wearily, the spell had drained him and sapped him farther when he closed to portals after the bullet corpse followed him into the cave. “It’s just me.” He promised. “Ill get your measurements once I wake up I gotta nap.”


	11. Curiosity Killed the Cat...

Zelda had been dozing against the cavern wall when she heard a low wail, she snapped open her eyes and looked around wildly for whatever had made the noise. she had been surprised to find a ebony purple circle hovering over the ground by an inch or two. She was careful and deliberate as she dragged herself to her feet and examined around the edges of the disruption in the dust on the cave floor. The wail had quieted and now the oval just hovered ominously, rippling occasionally like pond water. Zelda stepped to what she guessed to be the front and against her better judgment reached out to touch the oval.

She screamed as the oval moved and a leg pushed through the oval like it was a sheet. Zelda scrambled to get away from it and pressed against the wall as much as she could. Not because she thought the wall would save her but because she didn’t see a better option, the only way out was to walk past this thing. A second later Ganondorf appeared fully in the shimmering dark, toting with him a strange silver creature with shovel-like claws for hands and two massive jagged cuts in its sides. “Hey.” Ganondorf said heavily, his whole body seemed to weigh a million pounds suddenly compared to earlier in the morning where he carried himself with strength and power. “It’s just me.” He soothed. “Listen we’ll get your measurements in a bit. I need a nap.” She nodded slowly. She felt better with him around. He had gone from scary strange man to her protector in this strange land. It had been sudden but she was glad for him. “I’ll made some food out of this thing too when I get up. Help yourself to some water if you need it. If you need something wake me up.”

Zelda titled her head at him, “Why are you being so nice to me?” She asked, nobody had ever really been so genuinely nice to her. Had she passed out in front of Jason... She shuddered again, he had always been a bit of an... opportunist so to speak. Not to mention none of her father’s sycophants would have lifted a finger to get her anything even if it had been a sip of water.

This boy on the other hand had only done what he had to do to _save her life._ Then he had continued to help her for however long she had been unconscious, then when she woke up he had soothed her and made a point to respect her privacy as much as he could. Than he had gone out and killed whatever the hell this _thing_ was and brought it back for _her._ What in the world was his motive? Did he know what power she held before she trashed it all? Would he stop helping her as soon as he found out she didn’t rule anything now that she had abandoned her kingdom? She guess he would so she elected to hold back those details. At least for the time being. 

He gave a great yawn showing long sharp teeth and shook himself, “I dunno.” He replied with a shrug.

“Hey!” Zelda complained, “you don’t go this far out of your way to say you don’t know!” She at least wanted a reason! Nobody was this nice just because they could be.

“Would you rather I answer that my life was boring and that you are the most alien thing I have ever seen and I’m curious?” He replied flatly, she stared at him through narrowed eyes “didn’t think so. Plus that’s not the full truth so I don’t know is a better answer.” He grunted and dragged his carcass to the corner where all his supplies was stored and shuffled around in his pack for a moment before withdrawing a strange crystal substance. 

Zelda was trying really hard to stay mad at him she didn’t like either of the answers he had offered. But again curiosity got the better of her and she came over to sit behind him and look over his shoulder inquisitively. “Whatcha doing?”

“Salting the meat. It’ll help it keep.”

“What happened to a nap?” She asked warily eyeing a pocket knife fashioned of bone he whipped out of a secret pocket in his linen outfit. 

“Once I finish preserving this sucker I will. Besides the leather needs time to tan.

“To _what?_ “

“Well its stuck to blood and muscle and bone all this calf’s life so it’s all stringy and bloody right now.” Ganondorf replied evenly as he dug his blade into the side of one of the thing’s eyes. “Hand me that bowl would you?” 

Zelda felt like vomiting, “Wait what are you doing to it?”

“The eye can be crushed and made into an elixir that will help one see in the dark. Might sell for a good price, or who knows maybe we’ll need it.” 

Now Zelda threw up, albeit she had turned away to grab the bowl in question so it was on the cave floor rather than him. The vile bile burned her throat and her nose as half-digested... somethings came up and splattered onto the moist cave floor. _Ewww! I am **not** drinking eyeball juice! _ She trembled as much of her strength was sapped by the wave of nausea that shook her. “Careful food won’t be ready for another few hours and making yourself sick will only waste water.” Ganondorf’s voice was muffled but she heard a smirk in it.

“Are you laughing at me?” She hissed weakly shoving the bowl into his range.

He reached out blindly and grabbed her calf at first by mistake but quickly corrected himself and glanced over his shoulder and located the bowl before he reached for it again. “Yeah.” He replied turning back to his work. There was gross wet slicing noises that she deliberately didn’t look at as she backed up against Ganondorf a little so she could rest her head on a not vomit-covered surface. The cool floor felt nice despite the mess so close.

“Jerk.” She forced her last remaining energy into funneling as much malice into her voice as she could.

She was a little disappointed when she got a chuckle out of him now. “No no its good you’re grossed out. You are soft, yes. You have lived a soft sheltered life, yes. But you have survived what many would not have. If you have the strength to be disgusted than you will continue to survive. Meaning that my hard work paid off. So yes, I am happy that three sleepless days and twice that much water have not been wasted.” There was a slick pop and Ganondorf set something in the bowl with a bloody hand before he turned over the animal and began to work on the other side.

Zelda pushed herself up, she hated that he was right to call her soft, he cut with skill and accuracy which told Zelda this was not his first time killing, or utilizing a creature like this. It looked dangerous even if it was dead, and the thing was huge, easily the size of her anyways. Plus he was a native to the desert she supposed, who knows how hard life had been on him. Deep set scars scattered around his neck, arms and even face she realized now that he was much closer to her than he had been before. Many of them deep enough that should have been deathblows. She on the other hand was clean skinned, save a few freckles along her cheekbone, well and thanks to her recent journey, her skin was angry and red from sunburns as well. His hands were calloused and worn while her's were soft like a baby’s, and his nails were filed like claws whereas hers were painted black and used to be filed neatly down into half moon shapes, now they were cracked and chipped and dirty but it was nothing compared to Ganondorf's. She swallowed thickly and lay back down closing her eyes. She had never realized that being out here would mean that life would get harder. She had always just thought it would be all fun and games. _Like how it used to be with Mother._ She slammed her eyes tighter trying not to cry. She wasn’t weak... Well she was but it wasn’t really her fault. This was why she had left. She had wanted to experience the world for what it was, not what it was for a princess.

She opened her eyes again and looked inside the bowl, experiencing the world would mean having to see and experience some gross things. Especially since she didn’t know how long Ganondorf would take care of her, soon she may be having to do this herself. She closed her eyes for a second, not wanting to throw up again _It's not that gross, it'll be interesting to learn how this works._ She took a few deep breathes and opened her eyes to peer inside the bowl. Inside was a root looking thing with a round bulb at the end. “Careful with that, don’t crush it,” Ganondorf advised without looking up as he maneuvered his blade somewhere behind the thing’s eye. She hesitated but took his words as an ‘okay’ to pick it up. She took care to pick it up gently, more scooping it than pinching it as she would have liked. The thing was bloody still but most of it had dripped into the bowl by now.

“The little white thing on the tip is called the Optic Nerve.” Ganondorf explained. “That’s what helps the bullet see. It tells the brain what the eye sees and then tells the eye what the brain thinks of the picture it gets.”

“But its so small!” Zelda replied as she examined it. The thing was maybe about the size of a blueberry compared to the eye which might be the size of a grapefruit.

“I know!” Ganondorf couldn’t hide his excitement, at what exactly Zelda couldn’t tell but he was positively vibrating. The eye itself was ebony like the flying oval Ganondorf had appeared from earlier. Which she found odd. “Oh that?” Ganondorf noticed her trying to figure it out. “Here let me show you what it actually looks like.” He offered his bloody hand to her having removed the other eye and depositing it into the bowl as well. Zelda shrugged and gave it to him. With great care Ganondorf ran the blade along the surface of the eye. To her surprise the black began to peel off with it like it was a layer of mucus. Revealing a dark gold eye with a black dot in the center of it like a normal eye.

“What was that black stuff?” Zelda asked as he handed her back the eye. 

“Oh just something I used to help take it down, harmless now.” He replied.

“Alright.” Zelda spent the rest of the day with Ganondorf, watching him skin the creature and asking what did this or that and how this thing worked with the other thing, or what that part was used for before finally he set the huge scales of the land shark outside to dry in the sun and he retreated to his bedroll to rest. “Hey Ganondorf?” Zelda asked quietly as she got tucked into her own bedroll to finish her interrupted snooze.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For saving me.”


	12. Oasis

Ganondorf strode back into the cave with tonight's meal. This time a zebra that had injured it's leg and fell behind the rest of the herd. Easy pickings now that two weeks had passed since he met Zelda. Though he had been thinking about her question, _Why am I doing this?_

Well, for one thing, she was super smart. Ignorant? Absolutely, but she more than made up for that in spirit and enthusiasm. For another thing, she was quite strange compared to the Gerudo. She didn't _have_ to live like this. She could have asked him to take her back the border with Hyrule after she had fully recovered and he had said as much. But she stayed, despite having a home to run away to she embraced the desert life like it was the only thing she had ever known. It made him wonder what she could possibly be running from that could make the desert freedom. Which was not to say he had a crush on her. Nope, not even a little bit... or at least he had been telling himself that more and more every day.

Apparently it was so bad that it kept her from complaining hardly at all. Despite cracked nails, sunburns, chasing around prey in the heat, gutting and skinning animals for their resources, still in the heat. Not to mention sand in places where no one wants sand. The only thing she consistently complained about was having to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn. Of all the things to be bothered by, that one he understood, but most animals kept out of the heat so dawn was the last reliable opportunity to hunt.

Today Ganondorf had given Zelda a break and gone alone. Which he didn't mind, two weeks of blood, sweat, and tears do a number on a person the first few times around. Now it was Ganondorf's turn to get a break, for a little while at least. The Gerudo boy deposited his carcass in the main cavern of the pair's shelter, he had considered moving a few times, seeing Gerudo patrols getting closer and closer to the den. But Zelda had suggested that they stay. Moving would leave tracks and take time. Ganondorf couldn't shroud both of them and all the noise the gear would make and the tracks, but he could hide the mouth of the cave pretty well, or at least make it hard to get to. He was grateful she didn't ask why he wanted to hide from his own people. Perhaps out of respect since he hadn't asked what she was running from either.

In one of the pair's earliest battle practice sessions (she wasn't half bad either! Finally, someone who didn't go easy on him!) She had thrown some golden ball of light at him, the very sight of it had made his soul hurt and tug at his chest painfully. He was grateful he dodged that since it blew the wall behind him into bits. She had apologized profusely, and honestly, he had a few accidents with his magic too, distinctly when he almost killed Hirosmu nearly a month before, so he wasn't too mad at her. More interesting to him was the fact the wall had opened up into another cave that led deeper underground. At the end of the oddly empty passageway, not even a speck of dust, just stray rubble from the explosion, was an underground oasis with a monument in the center of a beautiful lake surrounded by green grass and trees, like real trees not palm trees, had stunned Ganondorf for a moment. He had never seen anything this beautiful and so full of life. Well, no place. A certain person surpassed this place but that was still up for debate.

 _"Hey come look at this!" Zelda had gestured him over from where she had crouched by the edge of the lake while he had been splashing through puddles created by the self-sustaining water cycle in this magical place. Once she had gotten him to stop rolling around in the shallow water, she showed him something odd she found under the water of the lake was two sparkling objects that couldn't quite be made out from the surface._ _Ganondorf had gotten to about ankle deep in the water when he heard the woman's voice in his mind. **Power! You and Wisdom have finally made it. After so long... So much bloodshed because of my-** The voice cut off. "What do you want from me?" Ganondorf wasn't sure if he had said this aloud or in his mind but he wanted to know what this woman wanted. **Take the earrings. They will help you channel yourself and-** The voice seemed to fade with a scream of pain and the next voice made him jump nearly out of his skin_ **Don't listen to her! She will bring you nothing but pain! Destroy the jewels! Kill the girl!** _"You sound like my mom now." Ganondorf huffed and shook himself free of the blackness that had taken over his vision. He glanced over at Zelda who looked shaken up and stared at him with wide terrified eyes. "You heard them too?" She nodded slowly, "well, if it makes you feel any better I have a will of my own and I will do whatever the hell I choose unless they have a damn good reason for being in my head telling me what to do." Zelda had nodded and agreed with this "I'm trusting you." She had told him deliberately. "Why in the world would I kill the person I saved from heatstroke?" He pointed out. "I-" She swallowed, "I guess that makes sense." she corrected quickly. He wanted to pry but something in the water was calling to him. He continued to wade until he went under. The water was crystal clear and with perhaps inexperienced but powerful maneuvering he made it over to the calling object and as the woman's voice had promised it was a set of earrings that had three diamonds stacked on top of one another and in the diamond settings were rubies and they made him feel some peace when he touched them. He scooped them up and looked around. Seeing a beautiful sapphire diadem nearby he grabbed that as well and pushed off the floor of the lake and scrambled onto the center island before he came face first with..._

A tombstone.

**My son.**

**If you are reading this, that means that my failure has led to your success.**

**You are free of Demise's curse.**

**By being here I know that you have abandoned all that was set up for you.**

**I forgive you.**

**I understand what it's like to be confused and frustrated, I was nothing like my father at first either.**

**You will learn.**

**By not becoming me you have given the future a chance to change.**

**Know that I am proud of you.**

**I'm sorry that I couldn't have met you in person.**

**You will be the savior of our people.**

**Don't be afraid of this.**

**It was meant to be.**

_Ganondorf stared at the text. Rage boiled in his veins, the only thing he had ever heard from his father, aside from a stuffed camel of all things, was a goddamn poem of a goddamn rock in the goddamn middle of nowhere? It probably wasn't even meant for him. But he couldn't help but wonder. He dug into the ground beneath him and didn't notice Zelda swim over herself, she looked at the note and then looked at him sadly, before helping him dig out the pit he had made and soon they found... Nothing. Nothing but an empty grave. Not one that ever been inhabited._

_"Gan... I think we're looking in the wrong place." Zelda whispered from beside him._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Why would you bury a body by a water source? That would only poison the water. We need to be looking where life has grown from death." Ganondorf stared at her and tried to hid how much this hurt him, somewhere in his heart he knew that note was for him but he didn't even have a body to put to rest. Still no signs of the legendary father whose legacy Ganondorf needed to uphold. He shuddered and pressed against Zelda without thinking, not caring that she was soaking wet. "I know what you must be feeling." She whispered wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I can only imagine what's it's like to grow up without a parent." Zelda held him patiently, "I am here. It's okay."_

_Ganondorf took controlled breaths, "well, the voice spoke to you too. Maybe something else is here for you." He grunted trying to distract her from him as he recollected himself._

_She watched him for a second longer before she crept around to the other side of the grave. She froze in her tracks as she lay eyes on it. Ganondorf debated whether or not to give her some privacy but then, she had seen his note, it was only fair._

**My daughter,**

**If you are reading this,**

**know you will become everything you have needed to become.**

**you will far surpass your father's expectations for you**

**you will find a powerful ally, and more importantly**

**someone who loves you as you need to be loved.**

**Someone who has for a very long time been your enemy**

**But you will need them and they need you too**

**Never forget what it took to get to where you are.**

**I am proud of you.**

**You are stronger than you think.**

**The right choice is never the easiest.**

**Hold onto hope.**

**It was meant to be.**

_"Mom, you have no idea what you are talking about!" Zelda wailed at nothing._

_"Hey," Ganondorf whispered and pressed against her. "It's okay. I'm here." He promised and she broke down into a mess of sobs._

_They sat together for a long time before he reached over to the jewelry and brought them over to where they sat. He pushed Zelda's hair out of her face and tenderly combed the diadem into her hair so it rested on her head and despite her being red-faced and snotty ugly crying, the look of the diadem on her suited her he figured. She seemed to calm down now a bit, while he adorned the ruby earrings in place of silver studs and he felt at peace. Maybe his dad was an ass but he had been **proud.** of Ganondorf, despite knowing he had run away from everything that had been the legacy left for him. That made him feel a bit better. **It was meant to be.** _

Two weeks since that day, he had decided the water was indeed clean and safe to drink and wash in. A relief since the nearest watering hole was at least three miles away and both ways in the heat sort of defeated the purpose.

Despite not seeing Zelda in the main clearing he had been expecting to be alone in the oasis to give himself a well-deserved wash after chasing around zebra all morning but quickly stopped in his tracks. To the left of the lake and the entrance to it was Zelda, dipping her feet in the water. The rest of her very naked form dripping with water. She didn't seem to notice him as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and gazed at her reflection with a hint of doubt in her gaze, she scowled at the image and distorted the image.

She was breathtaking.

Something about the image stirred some sleeping force deep inside of him _does she not realize how beautiful she is?_

 **That's it, now make her yours for the taking!** Ganondorf flinched away from the invasive thought. He scrambled up the clay path and zipped out of the cave into the heat of the desert for a long long time. He had to fight every urge he had to not act on what he had seen. He had no desire to hurt her, so it would just be between him and the desert but... No, he wasn't going to do it. He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes with a long groan. He stretched and jogged a few circles in front of the cave before he dared to step into the cave again. 

"Zelda! I'm back!" He announced himself like he was just coming in. He hadn't meant that when running his circles, he had done those to banish the thoughts from his head but it worked well in his favor. 

"One second!" She called back muffled thanks to distance but still audible thanks to the echoing of the cave. He sighed and sat beside his Zebra flicking out his knife and beginning to slice away at the animal's thick coat. Well thicker than one would expect for a desert animal anyways.

Eventually, Zelda came and sat next to him. "Hey." He smiled trying not to blush.

"Hi!" She did blush, and honestly, it was kind of cute.

"I've been thinking about what you asked me." He began slowly.

"I've asked you many things." She pointed out with the tilt of her head.

"Hear me out first!" He purred. A thick rumble that made it's way out of his throat without his permission at first as he set the knife down and playfully jumped at her. She adroitly scooted out of the way and pounced on him instead. "I mean the 'why am I doing this' question." He continued, rolling onto his back so she couldn't grab onto him anymore. She giggled and sat up next to him, meeting his eyes cooly. Gods she was pretty. "I'm doing this because... you want to be here and you want to learn how to stay here. Well and you are really weird compared to my world before I met you but you have proven yourself to me to be worthwhile and listening to what I have to say."

She met his gaze without flinching. "What are you getting at?" She asked softly.

Ganondorf swallowed, it was now or never. "I- I think I really like, like you!" He spat it out finally. He did now that he admitted it. She was so nice and sweet to him, didn't treat him like a king or a peasant or a boy or a monster or a warmonger or breeding cattle, she treated him like he was a man, a person and he could only hope he did the same. He tried really hard to be nice and gentle with her but sometimes he slipped up and he knew it.

Much to his dismay Zelda just stared at him for a while while she processed. Then she smiled. "I like you too goofy!" She said it much stronger than Ganondorf had, but any doubts he had evaporated when she hugged him. "I was just nervous you weren't into girls or not into me or thought I was a nuisance or-" She trailed off watching him slowly sit up, entranced by how her eyes light up when she had realized what this meant. 

Without thinking, Ganondorf reached out and touched her cheek, and gently pressed a kiss into her lips. She sighed and leaned into him tangling her hands into his hair and he was rather surprised when she kissed him back.

For the first time in Ganondorf's albeit short life. His heart soared out of his chest and all was right with the world.


	13. But Satisfaction Brought it Back

It had been nearly three weeks since the discovery of the Oasis, only about a week since the wayward teenagers had confessed their feelings for one another. Things were good, for now. Ganondorf had gotten more playful and flirty with her since his confession but had never taken it too far, and quickly stopped if he thought she was getting uncomfortable. But aside from that, they had so many new questions to answer. Were the messages on the tombstones intended for them? Did her mother and his father know each other? What happened here? Zelda's father had told her that her mother died in an ambush and told her never to ask again.

Well if her mom had run away too then it would make sense that her dad would make something up to try and not give Zelda any ideas. But how did Ganondorf's dad fit into it? Were they in love or something? Why did they run away to this cave together? Why did her mother collapse it? She knew it had to have been her mother who collapsed the cavern in on itself, after all, Ganondorf had tossed a few shadow balls himself but hadn't opened up anything at all.

Even after a solid week of scouring the oasis, they hadn't been able to find the bodies. They had found some blood stains and some signs of a fight but no skeletons or any signs of armor or weapons. Ganondorf hadn't been surprised by this, after all, he had inherited his armor and weapon. So Ganondorf's father had come into the cave under-geared. But what about Zelda's mother? Had they been here for one last meeting before they died? Had she come to finish the job on an old enemy or traitorous friend but he put up more of a fight then she expected? Zelda didn't know but she figured she'd find out eventually. The memories of many years of bloody senseless war came to her at night now. A small relief so it didn't bother her trying to learn what Ganondorf had to teach but still her nights were restless.

"Gan." She rolled on her back against the cool cavern floor, They had hunted well enough the day before to relax that day. "Why don't you and your people live with us in Hyrule."

Ganondorf rolled to face her, "I will answer that question with a story." He replied after a moment. "Long ago the Gerudo and Hylians did live together. Our numbers nearly surpassed the Hylians and all was well. Until a Gerudo king got hungry for power, he had shown much potential in his youth but had gone mad as time went on. He attacked his Hylains allies, slaughtering many of their civilians. Despite the Hylian's best efforts, they were being swarmed by the Gerudo. In desperation, the Hylian princess pleaded to the Goddess to help her people to stop them from being wiped out."

"The goddess enraged that the bearer of one of her legendary triforce pieces would turn on his counterparts like this, cursed his people. Sending a plague down to wipe out all of the men in the species effectively destroying their army. The king came down with the plague as well but because he bore the triforce piece of power, he survived where his brothers-in-arms did not. Still, the Gerudo did not relent, the women taking up arms and following the will of their king. But without the training that the true soldiers had, they fell easily to the Hylian troops. Finally, the leader of the Hylian troops, who bore the triforce piece of Courage, killed the Gerudo king, at the moment the king's life bled away into the stones, his son was born and the triforce piece was passed down onto the newborn. The royal court of the Gerudo king protected the boy fiercely during the next 18 years of war before he was crown the new king. The first choice he made as King was massive, he took the surviving Gerudo women with him and he fled. He started with maybe 100 women but by the time they reached the desert, he was at half that and lost another half in their first year in the desert. Finally, they learned how to survive in the desert by the time they were down to maybe a dozen women."

"They struggled to survive now that they had fewer resources to work with, but the war with the Hylians ended because they could not cross the deserts safely or fight efficiently while the Gerudo had begun to learn how to do those things."

"Ever since then the Gerudo man has waged war on the Hylians in an effort to try and regain the right to reproduce normally again but has always been pushed back."

"You're that man that's supposed to-" Zelda realized suddenly. No wonder he ran, as much pressure had been of Zelda before she left it was likely nothing compared to all the expectations he had. After all the survival of his people relied on him both in his actual helping them reproduce but also to fight to get another man or two in the picture. "But you're out here with me..."

"Yeah." He agreed. "I know it's immature an-" She interrupted him with a kiss. None of that mattered right now. He was important but he also was still a person. Just like she got to be someone other than a stupid princess or queen or whatever, he got to be who he wanted to be too. Plus had he not run from his responsibilities, she would be dead. Never gotten to meet him or develop feelings for him. He purred thickly. She pulled away and scampered over to the entrance to the oasis. "Where are you going?!" He asked as he got up to follow.

"Just come on!"


	14. Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW

Ganondorf had no idea what Zelda was up to, but found he didn’t much care. She was gorgeous and her voice was sweet as he followed her down the passage into the oasis. Touching him lightly on the shoulder, she chirped “tag!” and took off, he stared after her listening to her giggle while she ran through the underbrush and weaved around trees, using her grace to make it difficult for his much larger build to catch her.

With a wide grin he bolted after her, he wasn’t as fast as her or as clever as she was but he could guess her next move before even she could think it. Granted he was wrong occasionally when she threw a curveball at him so to speak. This game continued for a solid 15 minutes and a few loops around the lake before he began to gain on her. He smirked as she darted into his path and he lunged at her, sending them spinning like a wheel on a cart short ways before he had her pinned beneath him. He began to purr but cut off abruptly, “You’re like a little lion!” She giggled, he narrowed his eyes at her for a second.

“How so?”

“You purr, you’ve got a bit of a mane going on and the king of your pride.” She pointed out softly, adjusting so her back wasn’t right on top of a stick.

He rolled his eyes, “I don’t roar yet.” He grunted trying hard to be annoyed by this comparison but, she had a point. He growled and shook himself and tried to focus on his hold on her. Their eyes met for a few long breathless pants, her hands tracing the muscles in his arms adoringly. He swallowed thickly as the urges began to take him over he ran his body against her softly, pressing his chest against her and nuzzling against her cheek. Resigning himself that that would be good enough.

Zelda was full of surprises, she put a finger under his scruffy chin and turned his head to face her. Leaning forward she kissed him, hard.

Primal want was starting to override any logical thought he had. They needed to stop now if they were just playing, and he figured they were. “Gan,” She breathed wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself up to press her chest against him, her breasts beginning to perk with interest at their activities. Ganondorf could hear her desire resonating in his soul itself.

He nuzzled into her neck with a soft sigh, purring when her fingers tangled in his hair and she slipped her hands under the collar of his shirt, kneading the muscles in his back with exploration in mind as she touched him. He stifled a laugh but leaving a tiny nip on the side of her neck. “What are we doing?” He asked, half genuinely unsure if she understood how sideways this could go if she ended up... he swallowed, but she kissed him to knock him out of it.

“Relax.” She almost ordered. Ganondorf relaxed his shoulders and pushed some stray hair out of his face, not minding her wriggling out from under him for a moment. By the time he looked back at her she had stripped off her the leather top he had made for her and she tossed it aside to the base of a tree.

His eyes widened nearly out of his skull he had no words to say and wasn’t entirely sure what the hell she was doing or if she wanted him to look or if she was just messing with his head but he backed up so fast he almost tripped over her arm that came up to his shoulder again to soothe him. “I uh-“

“It’s okay.” She assured him, taking a hand and setting it on a breast.

It took Ganondorf an embarrassingly long time to move after that. He looked at Zelda... and dragged his eyes back up to her when he found them wandering downwards. Again primal instinct stirred and this time his body responded without him really noticing at first. _No..._ His efforts were in vain as she kissed him again and all his will came crumbling down. He finally allowed himself to indulge in the sight of her.

Her breasts were smaller than he was used to, but for one thing, she was offering them to him rather than hiding it behind clothing or whatnot, she (still!) wasn’t related to him which was most definitely a turn on and for another thing she made a series of strange but pleasing noises when he explored both the breasts and her chest and belly with his hands. She relaxed into the ground again now that she had gotten him going and went to enjoy the ride so to speak, well she watched his undoubted star-struck expression as well, showing him what she liked if he had doubts. 

It wasn’t too terribly long before she was fully exposed to him on the ground. On a whim, he ran a pair of fingers down the slick slit in the junction of her hips and she took a sharp breath in. Watching her carefully he continued until he reached a small opening. “This one right?” He asked quietly, he didn’t feel like dying thanks to male stupidity today, thanks. Thankfully she didn’t make fun of him or anything just nodded. Watching her very carefully he dared to dip a finger inside. The reaction was immediate, her warmth enveloped the digit in a tight, but not strangling grip and she arched a little into his touch with a moan. “That hurt?” He asked carefully and waited for not only 'no' but a ‘go-ahead’ before he proceeded.

He moved so his finger could explore around inside her. The walls were soft and warm like velvet and the passage wasn’t wildly deep, out of range of his middle finger but if he got just the right angle...

She yipped when he hit something that he knew wasn’t the end. He stopped and looked at her worried but inquisitive, she didn’t look hurt or like she was mad at him so against his better judgment he did it again.

It was the second time that he realized what the yip was, it was a moan but many octaves higher than he was used to hearing and it was cut short thanks to how brief his movements were.

With this in mind and a slightly winded Zelda on his hands he slipped in his other finger and began to massage that spot mercilessly. Soon she was a moaning wreck, arching her hips into him and bucking against his hand and crying out his name again and again and again. He smirked to himself, he was making her feel good!

Her orgasm came quickly and hit her harder than she was expecting Ganondorf guessed by how she screamed and gushed around his fingers. He purred softly while she came around. He had found his shirt to be a bit warm for his body temperature so he took that recovery moment to shrug it off.

"Holy hells." She whispered running her fingers over his chest. He didn't think he was much to look at. He had maybe a six-pack and a couple of stray fluff patches along the center of his belly trailing down. Ganondorf hissed as her fingers darted to his hips. She smiled and pulled away his heavy leather pants and her eyes widened. "Holy hells." She echoed. Ganondorf tried not to flinch under her scrutiny but it was difficult, he couldn't read her expression and that was nerve-wracking alone. Much less how she had frozen up as she looked at his entire body. His face, chest, belly, his whole body really, all came under her judgment. He was both terrified and relieved when she smiled at him. "Come down here and kiss me." She invited and he did so. She returned his kiss and reached a hand down between them and guided his member to her entrance.

 _This is actually about to happen!_ Ganondorf couldn't quite believe it. She met his gaze expectantly, he tried desperately for words to ask her a final time for permission but couldn't find them. Thankfully she understood and nodded.

He didn't remember giving the command to his hips, he just remembered slowly being swallowed by her wet tight heat. She gripped him like a vice and he hesitated, fearing he was hurting her but she urged him on.

Once he had hilted himself inside her he released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Their bodies were one continuous entity now and just the thought of that turned Ganondorf on. "You okay?" He asked, he wasn't sure how many times he had asked her but it felt like the millionth occasion he had done so and he figured he'd say a million more before this was over. Which he didn't think would be too much longer now. It was one thing to try it alone, and another thing entirely to be inside a woman, his woman, it was their first time together to boot, his first time period. Fuck he felt weak.

"Yes." She breathed trying to steady herself.

Ganondorf took this as his go-ahead and began to thrust into the tight warmth that she offered. She let out a tiny moan as she took him. This gave Ganondorf an idea, he began to adjust and shift so he came at her from a different angle with each thrust. Soon he found the spot he had been massaging with his fingers before by pushing past it with a few testing strokes. She yelped and her inner walls tightened around him briefly.

He repeated the action, beginning to pick up the pace with each thrust, relishing how tight she clutched at him and the noises she made as he moved. He wasn't really aware of his orgasm creeping up on him at first until he was right up to the cliff of it. "Zel..." He groaned and began to thrust deeper still inside her. 

She clutched at his shoulders and quaked at the end of his cock. "I'm! So close!" She whined and with one more well-placed thrust, she screamed and gushed around him again and he came with a sigh, pumping her full of a hot milk-colored liquid. It took everything in his power not to collapse on top of her. His strength sapped by the force of his orgasm. Instead, Ganondorf pulled out and lay on his side, pulling her close to him. "I love you." He breathed without thinking, as soon as the words left his mouth he froze, _Why would I say that? Stupid!_

To his surprise, she smiled and giggled, "I love you too my little lion."


	15. Life

Somewhere in a faraway forest shrouded in mystery was a village.

The Lost Woods had earned it's named thanks to the thick mist that blocked the sight of anything farther than a nose length from any brave traveler's face, but more than that it was a forested island the size of Hyrule castle but much like it's stony counterpart, the Lost Woods felt much bigger than it was both thanks to the fog and the many twists and turns and many secrets. The fog and the lack of space did little to stop the progression of society as these woods were home to two separate sentient species. The first was the Koraks, little people the size of a thumb whose faces looked like leaves with strange expressions painted onto them. They were lead by the Great Deku Tree, having been poisoned to death by an evil desert king many hundreds of years ago this towering oaken tree was still recovering his strength but with the help of his fairies, little spirits with great healing capabilities and of course, his Koraks, he maintained a positive relationship with the people of Hyrule and his closest neighbors.

The closest neighbors to the Korak’s, identified with none of the races known in Hyrule, instead they were the lost that had been found. They consisted of Exiles, star-crossed lovers, refugees, aged adventurers and anyone else who vowed to help protect the world they lived in. The craftsmen became the only producers of silk the world ever knew. The warriors hunted for and defended their village. The elderly became valued storytellers and councilors for their leader, whose name was Rivers that Speaks to the Half Moon.

It was two common folks of this village who became significant. The night that in the far away Gerudo desert the illegitimate union of two fledgling rulers was taking place, this tiny village was alive with excitement. Lark that Speaks at Dawn, a village healer, had gone into labor. Her mate, Marnn that Fights as Angels, a hunter, paced on all fours outside of the pair's cabin. Marnn had dark hair that traveled along his spine but pale skin otherwise that was covered in fur clothing, his back curved so he could walk on both four legs and two as he desired. His people came from a land beyond the borders of Hyrule. While his mate was of Hylian descent. None the less the pair got along well and had been expecting their first litter of cubs. Just hadn’t been expecting them so soon.

Marnn paced, he had been invited inside the home several times but he declined, mostly because he felt he was too big and clumsy to be anything more than a hindrance to the delivery process. His brother, Obsidian Dirge of the Unfathomed Monstrosities, on the other hand, had originally been trained in the ways of a shaman, but had later moved to contribute as a hunter, and was much sleeker and surefooted and in some ways, smarter than Marnn.

Dirge popped his head out from around the door, “you ready to meet your son?” Dirge asked patiently.

“Son? I thought there was going to be at least three cubs?” Marnn replied straightening up, squaring his shoulders and firmly setting his paws in the mud. 

“Well it turns out its just one rather large cub.” Dirge shrugged, “No complications during the delivery, so we were just off.”

Marnn nodded and went to press past his brother to meet his son when another voice caught his attention.

“Marnn that Fights as Angels!” A huge white-haired, green eye, quadrupedal creature called out to him.

“Cloud Hawk of Fallen Courage?” Marnn whipped around on his toes. “I thought you stayed with your father?”

“My father is dead.” Cloud Hawk replied darkly, “I am the leader of the tribe now.”

“Than what are you doing out here?” Marnn asked tilting his head, Dirge, examining how Cloud Hawk was bristling, snuck off to get help should it become necessary, Dirge had never trusted Cloud Hawk and his presence on the secluded island was alarming to the smaller black haired male, to say the least.

“That god of yours spoke to me. I need your help.” Cloud Hawk considered his words carefully.

“Okay?” Marnn tilted his head. “How can I help you? Why not speak to Rivers?” 

“I need your son.”

Marnn scoffed, “You’ve lost it! My cub was just delivered and you want me to give him to you? Hylia would never ask such a thing.”

“I wasn’t asking.” Cloud Hawk warned flexing his claws into the soft dirt. 

“You couldn’t beat me in training when I was part of your tribe and you certainly won’t beat me in defense of my new family.” Marnn hissed, echoing the claw flex and bristling his hair in all directions.

“I am the Earthseeker! You are to listen to me!” Cloud Hawk sprang at Marnn but he never made contact with his opponent.

“You do not rule anything here.” Rivers that Speaks to Half Moon snarled, slamming Cloud Hawk out of the air with a well-placed blow to the flank. Rivers was a medium-sized male with cool blue eyes and dark brown hair. He had been taking a nap in a stray sunbeam on a rock before Dirge had alerted him to the intruder. Rivers preferred to stand on two legs, but since the fight was taking place in ‘animal height’ as they called it he adjusted accordingly. 

Cloud Hawk hissed and rose from where he had been knocked to the ground. “Fine, I will leave but I will return in five moons, if you do not hand over the cub then I will kill you.” Cloud Hawk directed the warning at Marnn, but glared at Rivers while he said it.

“We will not give you anything.” Rivers said firmly. “Leave now, you are no longer welcome here.” 

Cloud Hawk snorted and pivoted as he stalked out of the clearing. Marnn went to say something of thanks to his leader but Rivers was already walking away, having stood onto two limbs again and making his way back to his stone of choice.

Sighing instead Marnn turned and wriggled inside the family home. “Hey love.” He purred coming up to nuzzle Lark’s face as he approached. “How is the cub?”

“Healthy and Strong.” Lark replied, moving blankets and herself so Marnn could see the tiny pale body whose back was traced by blonde hair. “I want to give him a two-part name to start.”

“Very well. How about Chain for the first part?” 

“If Link can be the second, then it can be a testament to our coexistence.” Lark replied, “the rest he will add on as he grows correct?”

“Yes, and I suspect he will go on to accomplish many great things. He will be a keystone for our future.”


	16. Fire.

Fire. Fire shot through Zelda's belly, fire in her belly for the fourth time this week. Thirtieth time since Ganondorf and Zelda had abandoned the cave they had resided in about a month ago. It had felt like they had been born in that cave when in reality they had only resided there for about a month.

Still, the fire didn't travel up Zelda's throat just yet this morning. Just twisted around in her belly painfully. There was shifting against her and a great yawn sounding from her hair along with a thick rumbling that signified her boyfriend was beginning to wake. She blinked open her eyes and saw a few loose strands of nearly blood-red hair, dyed the eerie coloring thanks to the lighting of the sun rising behind him. His mane had grown to just past his shoulders and he was rather proud of it, along with the fluffy beard he was starting to grow out. "You feeling alright?" He asked with a small nuzzle across her cheek. She started to say something to answer him but a surge of fire burst through her stronger than before and so she quickly shut her mouth again quickly. Ganondorf sighed sadly and stretched against her, pulling his arms away from where he had been holding her against him. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as he rose and shook himself off on their hide sleeping mat. A combination of furs and skins they had collected and the sleeping mats Zelda had thought to sew together and make a two-person bed. He hummed a tune to himself as he set about the morning chores, setting aside some water silently so had Zelda not been watching him through sleepy eyes, she wouldn't have known he was expecting her to purge her dinner from the night before.

The thought was disheartening to her, he had been so kind to her but had always been a bit rationed when it came to water. She felt bad having to waste so much of it purging whatever bug this was. But it wouldn't go away. More alarming than that was she had been missing her periods. She had spent many nights worrying about a possible reason this was happening to her. But Gerudo were a completely different species and there weren't having any half-Gerudo running around, despite Ganondorf supposedly being the only man in his entire people, surely the women got bored in his absence? Well, she understood the dedication to Ganondorf, he was so very much different than any of the men back home. Bigger and stronger than a Hylian and certainly with a sense of respect that Hylian men lacked. He always treated her the way a lady should be treated, but he also wasn't going to hide anything from her because it was 'unladylike' to gut a zebra. He was, and had actually told her, attracted to a woman who could stand up for herself.

Jason would never have let her have this much control of her life. If Zelda wanted to hunt by herself, Ganondorf, for the most part, left her to do so. If she had been particularly sick that day he did express concerns but would allow her if she showed she wouldn't pass out in the desert and die. Jason had probably not even let her leave a room without him or a guard escorting her.

Finally, it was at the thought of had she stayed she may very well have been caring _Jason's_ child by now, that she vomited into the sand. That was the good news for her if her suspicions were true. The worst Ganondorf would do was vanish off the face of the planet. He would never raise a finger to hurt her or the baby, he might run from his responsibilities, he had before since he was out here with her, but he would not leave her to die and he certainly would not bring the baby in harm's way. She knew that simply because Ganondorf had chosen to save a total stranger, much less a child of his.

The man in question darted to her side gently pulling her hair out of her face and rubbing her back soothingly. "Babe, you're losing so much water... we can't keep you out here." He breathed, more to himself but thanks to how he hovered around her she heard him.

"But you're-" she was interrupted by another wave of pain through her belly. After her stomach gripped itself again painfully she gasped for breath and tried to collect her thoughts again.

"Easy." He mused louder, "deep breaths, just relax." The hell did he know about this anyway? Had she had the energy she would have snapped at him but she tried his suggestions and her stomach settled some. "Good girl." He soothed. She liked his reassurance more than she ever cared to admit. She liked not being shunned for every little thing she did and he knew that, but he used this power sparingly. 

"Running away from them." Zelda finished shakily. 

"Forget about me, you'll die if I don't take you to Hirosmu." He grunted flatly, his eyes traveling to the still dark sky towards the shadow of a city in the distance.

"She lives there conveniently." Zelda meant to ask but really stated.

"I told you we were getting close to my hometown," Ganondorf replied, "and I wanted to get closer to town so it wouldn't be too far of a journey if I needed to get you to help quickly."

"Motherfucker." she snarled. He shrugged, seemingly unaffected. Another wave of flames scorched her insides but did not bring a fresh wave of dry heaves, even now that her stomach had nothing left to give. "How far is it?"

"Half a day if we take it easy for you. Shorter if I can find a guard."

"Go find a stupid guard, I'll stay here."

Ganondorf rolled her so he met her eyes, "That doesn't sound like the best idea we've ever had." Blinking slowly when she shrugged.

"Well, I'm not moving." She grunted. 

With a sigh, Ganondorf rose to his feet, "I'll be back by nightfall. I want you to drink the entire water skin while I'm gone okay?" Zelda nodded weakly in reply and forced herself to shuffle over so she could drink from the skin should she think she could keep it down. Looking over her for a moment more, Ganondorf took off into the desert as fast as he could and Zelda hoped he hadn't gotten the suspicion she had and that she had been wrong about him not leaving her to die.

***

Zelda didn't remember passing out but she must have because she woke up to a star spattered night sky. "Love!" Ganondorf exclaimed beside her as he pressed against her, worry written on his face and delight shining in his eyes. "You're awake!" He purred nuzzling against her.

"Where am I?" She blinked and looked around, noticing clay walls standing around her and that the sky was actually a blanket with sparkling grains of sand weaved in between the threads of black silk and the wind echoed weirdly around the building.

"I took you to the wise woman's house," Ganondorf explained. "She'll help us. I know she will." He shifted beside her and stood. Darting out of the room and returning with a woman just a bit taller than he.

The woman had the same dark skin, red hair and amber eyes Ganondorf did but she looked more stern, harsh even, as though she had seen lifetimes of war. "You brought me a cub to work with?" She narrowed her eyes at Ganondorf who shrugged arrogantly.

"You kinged a cub before he was ready. Fair's fair." 

"King?" Zelda interrupted, "the King is here?" She couldn't help but cower in the surprisingly comfortable nest of sorts whose base of the bed was a large rock but it was covered in hides and pillows so it wasn't so bad to sit or lay on. The thought of the king reminded her of her father, and by the goddess, she did not want her father to find her here. She would rather wither to death in the desert than let her father find her with a strange man, possibly pregnant and a runaway.

The woman looked at Ganondorf with a look of surprise written on her face, "you have not told her?"

"What was I supposed to say?" Ganondorf snapped, "That I was a failure? To myself and everyone around me? That I cracked under the pressure forced on me, that I didn't want to have to mate with the women who raised me?" His hair spiked in frustration.

The woman flinched, "It's not a perfect system but-"

Realizing suddenly what was happening like a cannonball hitting a ship. Zelda spoke, "Ganondorf, you are the king?" _hes the king of darkness my dad was so scared of!_ the realization hit her like she had just run into a brick wall at top speed. _hes a monster and a murderer!_ fear washed over her. But Gamondorf had been acting rather strange for a supposedly bloodthirsty man.

Ganondorf looked at the ground. "Was."

"Is." The woman countered.

Ganondorf shot a glare at the woman but replied to Zelda much gentler. "I left that all behind me when I ran away. I told you that I'm the only man of my kind, I didn't think it would come up."

Zelda bristled, "You could have said something!"

"I did say something!" Ganondorf retorted. "I figured that by default that put me as king of the desert."

Zelda narrowed her eyes, unclenching her fists from the blankets "you... aren't the king of Hyrule."

"Of course not!" Both Gerudo said at once. Ganondorf with a much bigger tone of snark and an eyeroll.

"It is your duty to choose the next king of Hyrule, princess." The woman continued.

"Princess?" Ganondorf looked between the woman and Zelda. His amber eyes dimmed as though he had been betrayed. Like his world was falling apart, his mouth dropped open and his ears drooped in concern and fear.

"Queen." Zelda replied meekly.

"You're mad at me because I didn't tell you I was king of the itty bitty little Desert but you didn't tell me you were _Queen_ of the whole damn world!" Ganondorf snapped suddenly finding his strength again. "I'm not drunk enough for this shit." He muttered turning on his heel and storming out past a blue silk curtain.

The woman sighed softly, "Goddess, what mess have these cubs gotten into?" She murmured. She shook herself as if to clear her thoughts and straightened. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Queen Zelda. I am Hirosmu, Ganondorf's great grandmother."

Zelda blinked a few times. She didn't look much older than maybe 25. "You don't look it." 

Hirosmu smiled, "That's very kind of you to say." She replied, "but we aren't here to discuss me. What brings you to the desert?"

Zelda thought about lying, saying she got lost or something but found under the gentle but firm gaze of Hirosmu, she couldn't. "I ran away, I couldn't deal with my dad anymore."

Thankfully, Hirosmu did not judge her or scold her. Just nodded understanding. "May I tell you what I told Ganondorf while he grew up?"

"Sure." Zelda didn't think there was much of a choice but figured that Hirosmu was only trying to help.

"As confusing and frustrating as things are right now, it will become clear to you. I promise. My son and my sons son and this son have spent much of their youth questioning, asking themselves 'why'. Power guides my kings and the cub who brought you here is no exception. Power guides my king yet this time his heart leads him."

"What do you mean?" Zelda tilted her head. If Ganondo4f was still as power-hungry as his father's, how could he be lead by his heart? How come he saved her? It was interesting that Hirosmu knew all of this but what did it have to do with her running away?

"Power has traditionally been lead by hatred and greed. As much as Ganondorf may like to sugarcoat it. That is what previous kings were known for. But he is their surviving memory he feels that anger just as strongly as they. In his mind he believes the source of the anger is due to the unfair cruelty the Gerudo must suffer and part of it is. But my son and grandson were not inspired by that as much as the first King was."

"The Ganondorf we know today however, is lead by his heart. He believes in mercy and kindness with no expectation of kindness in return. He still has the strength of his forefathers but he chooses to use it in a different way."

"Why?" 

"Not even he knows. His gentle spirit is why he's struggling so much with becoming king. He is expected to help us reproduce and wage war of your people. Yet he yearns for something different than what everyone demands of him."

"How do you know this about him?"

"I am the wisewoman." Hirosmu replied, twisting her hair behind her ear. "I raised Ganondorf along with his mother. I saw the suffering he had to endure as a child, either from his peers or the adults around him. Those little girls were incredibly picky about when they wanted his attention. They had never experienced anything like a boy before. He's the odd one out. I knew he would run someday. He may not have known it but I could see it in his face. He needed time to step away from us to discover who he is to become before he can take the crown and rule."

Zelda pondered. "How do I fit in with this?" 

"You and him share a very special bond. Not one anyone else in the world can claim to share. Your souls are linked."

"Like soulmates?" Zelda hoped, maybe their parents had met at the cave while writing their messages for their offspring. Maybe it didn't have to be death and dismemberment. Maybe just maybe they could finally end the war between Hyrule and Gerudo and merge them into one kingdom again.

Hirosmu chuckled, much to Zelda's dismay. "Not quite. There's another individual who shares a piece. Together Power Wisdom and Courage have always been one and the same. Without Ganondorf, there's no Gerudo and no strife among your kingdom. Without you there is no ruler in the face of danger. No one to stand up to the desert king. Without the last individual, there is no one to restore balance to the world."

"Which piece am I if not Power?" Zelda asked, that would solve so much confusion! Even if Hidosmu didn't know it still narrowed it down to two options, it examined why the Spring of Power nevee spoke to her, she wasn't Power she was something else.

"That is for you to decide." Hirosmu replied evenly.

"Does the third have to kill him?" Zelda asked, she didn't want to have to have Ganondorf killed. Not after all of this. He may have been a generational enemy but their love for one another was stronger than old grudges Zelda was sure of that. Besides anyone with doubts could see them together and realize that all was right with the world so long as the king and queen were together.

"I have never heard of a time where that has failed to happen. Yet never before has the King of the desert fallen in love with the Queen of Hyrule." Zelda almost told Hirosmu about the message in the cave but held her tongue. That was meant for Ganondorf and Zelda's eyes only. She knew that if nothing else.

Zelda went to ask how Hirosmu knew everything about Ganondorf and his feelings for Zelda, but then, he had been very transparent lately. He had braved the desert to get her help. Braved his people and his teacher for her, hadn't left her side while she slept and while they had had a spitting match Hirosmu seemed rather amused by it rather than concerned Ganondorf was going to turn violent. No Ganondorf was nothing to be afraid of. Not really. Maybe rage still lived inside him but it lived inside everyone. He didn't let it control him and that was what mattered. "We can always change." Zelda replied finally.

"Can and will are very different things." Hirosmu replied. "But this is not what ails you. He did not dare to face us again for old stories."

Zelds swallowed. "I've been... missing periods." She admitted. "Which at first i thought was just because it's hot out here but then I started throwing up every morning." 

Hirosmu considered Zelda carefully. "Have you and Ganondorf been-"

Zelda flushed hard, "yes." She interrupted, hoping that Hirosmu was not about to say what she was definitely about to say.

Hirosmu leaned forward, her eyes gentle but firm. "I need you to be perfectly honest with me." Zelda tilted her head but let the wise woman continue. "Did he force this on you?"

Zelda scoffed at the idea, "no of course not!" She replied, "I started it. He was so nervous about the entire thing, well the first few times at least."

Hirosmu's face had morphed into an unreadable expression. "I wouldn't think him to do something so horrific, even by his standards but better to be safe." Hirosmu pondered her next words carefully. "The chances of him giving you a cub, even had it been only once is nearly guaranteed... he is the most virile man on the planet. Most gods aren't on the level he is. But if you do not wish to bear his child. Do not wish to take the mantle of his first mate. Now is the time to tell me, I have an herb that will reverse the gestation process and will restore you to how you were before. Of course you will still remember you're experiences but you will be able to return to your people as virtuous as you left so long as your secret remained safe." Hirosmu explained. Her tone was harsher now, critical.

"So I am..." Zelda swallowed unable to finish the sentence.

"Almost certainly."

"I-" Zelda considered. "May I go speak with him? He deserves to know and have a say on what happens."

Hirosmu's ears flicked. Her eyes narrowed as she read Zelda's face. "Very well. But know that if you leave this house still expecting his cub you have become his Beta."

"His what?"

"His queen."


End file.
